The government plans to open up almost all business sectors to foreign investment and issue a positive investment list in an omnibus bill on job creation. According to a draft of the bill obtained by The Jakarta Post, all business sectors will be open to direct investment, except those declared prohibited from such activity or those that can only be handled by the government. The prohibited areas are narcotics, gambling, chemical weapon industry, ozone-depleting substances, coral extraction and fishing activities for endangered species based on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Meanwhile, the sectors that can only be handled by the government are those related to public services or defense and security, such as primary weapons defense system, state-owned museums, as well as flight and sailing navigation systems. Furth...

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Government to liberalize investment in omnibus bill on job creation - Jakarta Post

As part of the merger of five independent orthopedic practices to form Virginias largest provider of orthopedic and therapy care, OrthoVirginia, a large investment was made implementing a new electronic health record system.

A survey gauging physician satisfaction with the system, however, showed an overall poor experience, which led the CIO and CMIO to work together to implement and show measurable improvements across a range of areas, including more efficient usage of the technology.

Among the most important decision made was to use provider satisfaction measurement tools, to better understand the most impactful EHR related elements that drive provider satisfaction.

A structured onboarding process, including an explanation of the organizations culture, also helps sets expectations for what will be required of the provider to achieve EHR mastery.

"The lack of a clear articulation to the providers about what the EHR can be is a significant and ubiquitous problem," said Dr. Harry C Eschenroeder Jr., CMIO of OrthoVirginia, who is scheduled to address the topic March 12 at HIMSS20 with co-presenter and OrthoVirginia CIO Terri Ripley.

He explained there is confusion about what parts of the workflows are driven by compliance requirements and what parts of the EHR can be helpful.

"Workflows driven by compliance often frustrate providers and may add little value to patient care," he cautioned. "A well designed EHR can orient the physician to the patients situation, teach the patient what is wrong with them, and what they must do to get better."

He further noted it can also facilitate communication and coordination of care amongst the providers trying to help the patient.

"Providers must understand that they bear a responsibility to master and improve their imperfect EHR for the benefit of their patients," he said. "They need to experience some wins in making their EHR better."

Eschenroeder said some methodologies that can be used to successfully implement a continuous education program for physicians include offering at the elbow provider education and provider problem resolution based on a personal relationship between the provider and a provider support specialist.

"In addition, EHR educational presentations at department meetings can help providers to understand that the EHR is not a dead tool, it is evolving, and their input is critical," he said.

Additional methodologies could involve peer to peer teaching and support interactions in provider meetings, and teaching themes for the provider support specialists, so that rounding is more than answering complaints and solving problems.

Eschenroeder and his OrthoVirginia colleague Terri Ripley will share their insights during their HIMSS20 session, Physician Satisfaction with EHR: Is it Possible to Improve? It's scheduled for Thursday, March 12, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in room W206A.

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How training investments can boost EHR satisfaction - Healthcare IT News

Umar Oba Adelodun and Abdulquawiy Olododo are young engineering graduates who are keen on disrupting the agricultural sector in Nigeria. The co-founders of Heart & Capital, an innovative agricultural startup, in this interview express the belief that agri-businesses hold the potential to power Nigerias economy and lift millions out of poverty.

Umar and Abdulquawiy, who also spoke about the brands vision, advised Nigerians, especially the youths to take advantage of agri-investment, which can help attain wealth if it is rightly done. Find the interview excerpts:

Did you in anyway have an agricultural background and what inspired Heart and Capital? Background, no! We are both engineering graduates. However, our deep interest in agriculture spurred us to intern closely with some big farm owners in Kwara state to see how things are done and that opened us to see some of the incredible gaps and opportunities in the sector.

The internship and the exposures, notwithstanding, we had huge challenges when starting our own farm and this was what inspired Heart and Capital our dream to ensure farm owners do not go through some of the challenges we went through while starting up our own farms Challenges such as poor farm consultants and managers. We wanted to help farm owners replicate our success criteria, thereby, saving them from trial and error. Every other thing such as capacity building and investment platform came after that initial dream.

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What would you say has been the biggest challenges so far with building up Heart and Capital? We have faced and are still facing so many challenges just like any other start up anywhere in the world, ranging from the lack of enabling environment to finding the right fits for the firm, among others. However, at H&C we always find opportunities in challenges. For instance, our core service which is farm management and consultancy came about as a result of our inability to find trustworthy and credible people who could offer us those services. In as much as we face numerous challenges on a daily basis, we take advantage of these challenges and use it to serve more people in a sustainable way.

What would you attribute the success of Heart and Capital to? The dream, the team and Gods grace. We have always had a big dream right from the outset and we have never shied away from doing the hard work. Also, we have an amazing and relentless team that has embodied the vision of H&C and has played a vital role in getting us to where we are currently. And lastly, God has been with us all through.

Why do you think the agricultural sector is lagging behind in terms of investments? Policy! Policy! Policy! As well as lack of structure and enabling environment.

Aside farm investment, youve worked with a prestigious institution like Kwara State University on Human Capital Development. What are your plans on this and has there been any conflicts with your major focus on farm investments?

Our mission as a company is growing and easing agribusiness in Africa. Mentoring thousands of youths falls right in line with our mission because the age of an average farmer in Nigeria is over 50 years old. Few years from now, if we dont have youths taking serious interest in agriculture we will be in serious trouble as a nation and even for us as a company, there would be little agribusinesses to grow and ease. Our plan is to partner with more institutions in and outside the country to reach out and mentor more youths and get them to see the opportunities in Africas agric sector.

Heart and Capital will be launching a new project for agri-investors soon, can you confirm this and what is different about this project? Yes, the Eterno project is our investment product that is centered around cashew and it will be launched on the 24th of February, 2020. We are very keen about this investment product for a number of reasons. It is our first product on the digital platform, previous investment products were not digitally accessible.

When launched, Eterno will perhaps become one of the most affordable investment options out there and this gives room for more people to key into agribusiness opportunities with bountiful returns at minimal risk.

We said minimal risk because the project is fully insured by Leadway Assurance. So, watch this space!

Are you getting any investment interest from people outside the country? YES! Some of our previous proxy farmers (investors) were people in the diaspora and so are a lot of the people who have shown interest in the Eterno project.

The world has gone digital, and that is merely stating the obvious. What are you doing to bring Heart & Capital and its projects to everyone everywhere? True. The world has gone digital and we are happy to tell you that so have we. We have now integrated technology with our investment platform (Assetmart) to allow people all over the world become a proxy farmer via our website. This, we believe is just the beginning. We are determined to continue to integrate technology into our operations for ease of access and efficiency for all our stakeholders.

The main topic when it comes to the environment is climate change, how does your business objectives contribute to this?

Being part of the generation with the ability to still do something about climate change, from our projections our Eterno project will mitigate megatonnes of carbon from the atmosphere. It is a project that was created with the sole purpose of sustainability (people, planet and profit). Thousands of jobs will be created, megatonnes of carbon will be mitigated from the atmosphere via the planted trees and the proxy farmers all get to make profits from the project.

Lastly, as one of the fastest growing agribusiness companies in Nigeria, what are your expansion plans? Our expansion plans include unveiling more investment products on our Assetmart (digital investment platform), which would include opportunities to invest in animal farms, more phases of the Eterno project and other investment opportunities. We also have plans to further scale up our cassava-processing factory and start our own cashew-processing factory. Lastly, we would be proposing partnerships with more institutions across the country and even outside the country so as to reach and mentor more youths on the opportunities in the agric sector.

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If you are thinking of how to make money, agri-investment is what you should be looking at H&C Founders - Techpoint Africa

The link between economic growth and social progress is complex, although most would agree that pursuing a more inclusive model of economic growth that benefits all segments of society is essential to creating a sustainable future

Financial inclusion has been demonstrated to stimulate economic and social development and to move society toward a range of UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). This is achieved by providing access to affordable and responsible financial products and services that people need. We explain below how impact investments that promote financial inclusion can help to foster economic growth and build sustainable economies and societies.

The challenge of accessing affordable credit

The basic premise of an inclusive economy is that more opportunities are made available for more people that an increasingly wide cross-section of society has access to the labour market, financial services and economic opportunity, regardless of their gender, race or ethnicity, age, family background, sexual orientation or socio-economic circumstance.

Financial services are key to achieving progress and growth. Nonetheless, many micro-enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individual borrowers have unmet financing needs. This is often because they have limited or no access to basic financial products and services, or because the products and services to which they do have access are not adequately structured with respect to the prospective clients repayment capacity. Around 1.7 billion people worldwide cannot access traditional bank finance and are classified as unbanked[1]. Further, in developing countries 80% of the most economically-disadvantaged individuals do not have bank accounts[2] with much of the unbanked population consisting of women and poor households in rural areas.

Although financial inclusion is a particularly acute issue in developing markets, access to affordable and responsible financial services, including credit, remains a key challenge for low-income and financially excluded groups in both developed and emerging economies.

Why impact investing is part of the solution

Inclusive finance is helping to bridge this gap. Early efforts aimed at promoting financial inclusion were initiated by NGOs and development finance institutions which would often lend with the objective of social benefit while allowing financial returns to remain a secondary consideration. Over the past twenty years this incipient approach to microcredit has matured to become a rapidly consolidating global microfinance industry. Adequately designed financial products and services, operational efficiencies bred of increasingly sophisticated IT systems, and an understanding that social impact may be achieved without sacrificing risk-adjusted financial returns are now the norm. Providing financing for companies that take this approach allows investors the opportunity to participate in increasing financial inclusion while earning competitive financial returns. This attractive risk-return-impact relationship is helping to increase private-sector investment in this newly consolidating industry and to further reinforce financial deepening in many economies.

Impact investing has been long associated with microfinance funds, which to date make up the majority of existing private debt impact funds. That said, the impact fund universe now includes funds engaged in activities other than pure microfinance. Many of these funds are focused on promoting financial inclusion, with an increasing emphasis on fintech companies that provide products and services to microcredit and SME finance driven by algorithmic underwriting and big data. According to the Global Impact Investing Networks (GIIN) Annual Investor Survey 2018, after energy, microfinance and financial services (ex-microfinance) comprise the second and third-largest impact allocations (assets under management) by sector.

At M&G we invest in private and illiquid fixed income assets across twelve thematic impact areas that offer clear positive environmental or social outcomes as well as attractive financial returns. The following example of an impact investment illustrates how our financing has been used to generate positive social impact in the area of microfinance and financial inclusion.

Impact investing in action

Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF) helping to create a cycle of positive change

M&G provided US$90 million senior debt financing to MEF, a $690 million microfinance debt fund set up in 2009 to offer a reliable and stable source of finance to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in a wide range of developing countries.

The MEF was established by IFC (the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group), KfW (the German development bank) and OeEB (the Austrian development bank) to provide short and medium-term debt to MFIs, which in turn offer loans to thousands of micro and small entrepreneurs in developing countries to support economic development and help break the cycle of poverty.

The transaction finances a well-diversified pool of loans in terms of country and MFI entity exposure. A demand-driven fund, the MEF has lent to over 230 MFIs across all developing regions since its inception. The MFIs provide a variety of services to support development activity, including unsecured credit, insurance, housing loans, deposits and savings.

Investment impact overview: With an average underlying loan size of $1,730, our investment in MEF will support lending to around 52,000 micro and small entrepreneurs in developing countries. MEF has progressively grown the share of local currency lending in its portfolio to 62% (all local currency loans are fully hedged to the US dollar), thereby de-risking many of its investee institutions and their clients from currency fluctuations. The activities of the MEF and its partner institutions have a strong developmental profile with 80% of borrowers being women, many of whom are heads of household. Moreover, around two-thirds of the loans made in 2018 were to borrowers in rural areas lacking access to conventional finance and therefore struggling to meet their financial goals.

This investment aligns with the following UN SDGs:

Beyond equality of opportunity

Impact investors can help to create resilient, inclusive and sustainable economies and societies better equipped to navigate the changes induced by megatrends such as globalisation, digitalisation and demographic shifts. We seek to invest in and structure innovative investment solutions that can offer attractive returns and mitigate risks for our clients while generating a measurable social or environmental impact. We invest not only to promote financial inclusion by giving borrowers better access to affordable and appropriate financial services, but also to improve the lives and prospects of those borrowers as a result of the financing provided.

For our latest insights on impact investing and to learn more about our approach: http://www.mandg.com/impactinvesting

For Investment Professionals only.

This article reflects M&Gs present opinions reflecting current market conditions. They are subject to change without notice and involve a number of assumptions which may not prove valid. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The distribution of this article does not constitute an offer or solicitation. It has been written for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or as a recommendation of any security, strategy or investment product. Reference in this document to individual companies is included solely for the purpose of illustration and should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell the same. Information given in this document has been obtained from, or based upon, sources believed by us to be reliable and accurate although M&G does not accept liability for the accuracy of the contents.

The services and products provided by M&G Investment Management Limited are available only to investors who come within the category of the Professional Client as defined in the Financial Conduct Authoritys Handbook.

Issued by M&G Investment Management Limited (unless stated otherwise), registered in England and Wales under number 936683 with its registered office at 10 Fenchurch Avenue, London EC3M 5AG. M&G Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

[1] The Global Findex Database 2017, World Bank Group.

[2] PIIF Report on Progress 2016 assessing the impact of responsible investors in Inclusive finance, Principles for Investors in Inclusive Finance.

This article was written by Richard Sherry, Fund Manager, M&G Investment Management. This article was sponsored by M&G, and RI editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.

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'Towards inclusive societies Impact investing and financial inclusion' - Responsible-Investor.com

The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF (RGI) was launched on 11/01/2006, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Industrials - Broad segment of the equity market.

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Industrials - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 13, placing it in bottom 19%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $238.29 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Broad segment of the equity market. RGI seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials Index before fees and expenses.

This index is an unmanaged equal weighted version of the S&P 500 Industrials Index that consists of the common stocks of the following industries: aerospace & defense, building products, construction & engineering, electrical equipment, conglomerates, machinery; commercial services & supplies, air freight & logistics, airlines, marine, road & rail transportation infrastructure.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.40%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.29%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC) accounts for about 1.53% of total assets, followed by Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT) and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc (HII).

The top 10 holdings account for about 14.94% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF return is roughly 3.50% so far, and was up about 19.21% over the last 12 months (as of 02/17/2020). RGI has traded between $116.14 and $141.39 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.20 and standard deviation of 15.38% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 70 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, RGI is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Industrials ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Industrials 25/50 Index and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) tracks Industrial Select Sector Index. Vanguard Industrials ETF has $3.74 B in assets, Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF has $11.97 B. VIS has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLI charges 0.13%.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF (RGI): ETF Research Reports Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS): ETF Research Reports Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI): ETF Research Reports Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (HII) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research

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Should You Invest in the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF (RGI)? - Yahoo Finance

From $350 billion a couple of years ago, to $1.1 trillion (or more) 20 years from now, investment bank Morgan Stanley believes that the space economy could more than triple in size by 2040. But what exactly is this space economy -- and how do you invest in it?

Various pundits will answer this question in various ways, but here's how I prefer to look at it. All of the space economy is divided into three parts: old space companies, new space companies, and what I'd call space-adjacent companies.

Let's look at them one at a time.

Image source: Getty Images.

What's the first thing you think of when you think about space exploration? Rocket ships, of course! And for the longest time, American rocket ships were built by just a handful of companies.

Boeing (NYSE:BA) built the Delta IV heavy-lift rocket, for example, and Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) the Atlas V. (Now both rockets come from the companies' joint venture United Launch Alliance, or ULA.) Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) contributed Pegasus, Minotaur, and Antares rockets to the mix. And unless they were bought from Russiaor built in-house, the engines that powered these rockets generally came from Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE:AJRD).

All four of these companies are still doing decent business building rockets and selling them to the government for occasional rocket launches. They're also all involved in the development of a new mega-rocket for NASA, the Space Launch System, or SLS.

NASA hopes that SLS will be the rocket to take American astronauts beyond low Earth orbit, returning to the moon, exploring Mars, and even capturing asteroids for research and mining. But increasingly, SLS is attracting criticism for its high cost and long development time -- and it's even being accused of using obsolete technology. Indeed, SLS looks emblematic of "old space" companies' whole approach to space -- charging hundreds of millions of dollars to build a handful of expendable rockets, then throwing them away after just one launch.

Today, new space companies are rising up, offering new business models that promise to make space launch easier and cheaper -- and stealing market share from these old-guard space companies.

SpaceX is the most obvious example of this new breed of space company. Its reusable Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and forthcoming Starship rocket have captured the imaginations of space fans and space investors alike with the promise of dramatically cutting the cost of space launch by building a rocket once and then launching, landing, and relaunching it many times. By not having to build an entirely new rocket for each mission it launches, SpaceX has already cut the cost of spaceflight to as low as $50 million -- a seven-fold improvement over prices ULA has charged for some missions.

At the same time, small-launch companies such as Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit are coming at space launch from a different perspective. Virgin Orbit -- the sister company to space tourism pioneer Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) -- plans to carry rockets high into the atmosphere aboard specially modified airplanes, then release them to blast small satellites the rest of the way into orbit. Because the carrier aircraft can be flown multiple times, this introduces a measure of reusability into the process (a la SpaceX), while the company's unique launch profile permits satellites to be launched essentially from any airport to any orbit a customer might desire.

Mind you, Virgin Orbit hasn't actually put any satellites in orbit yet. But Rocket Lab has. In fact, the company has already launched 11 times from its first spaceport in New Zealand. It's also opened up a second launch site in Virginia, and is currently building a third.

These aren't the only rocket companies working to remake space launch in their image, but so far, they're the most successful. Alongside companies like Planet Labs (a satellite imagery company) and OneWeb (a satellite internet company), they form the face of the new space economy -- and for investors brave enough to risk investing in IPOs, these are certainly companies to watch.

A third facet of the space economy, and one that's all too easy to overlook, is companies that are what I'll call space adjacent -- businesses that operate primarily here on Earth, but that benefit (or in some cases suffer) from advances made outside Earth's atmosphere.

Who might this include? You can actually cast a pretty wide net. Some of the new space companies named above -- SpaceX and OneWeb in particular -- are building out satellite broadband constellations orbiting Earth. If successful, they could generate billions of dollars of profit selling internet access from space. Their success could also bring billions of new customers onto the internet globally, boosting the growth prospects of Alphabet for example, which will try to sell advertising to all these new customers.

On the flip side, investors will need to ask how cheap, universally accessible internet service will affect unwillingly space-adjacent enterprises such as Comcast, for example, which may find their internet service monopolies disrupted by competition from beyond the skies.

One company not yet mentioned, Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM), is bringing online a space-based air traffic monitoring service called Aireon, which has the potential to improve upon -- or even replace -- current systems of ground-based radar used for tracking aircraft and controlling air traffic. If successfully implemented, this technology could result in more efficient flight patterns that decrease fuel usage and improve the profitability of airlines.

Of course, this is just a sampling. You can imagine similar examples all around the globe, as satellite imagery is used to improve the efficiency of automotive traffic, cargo vessels at sea, or irrigation and fertilization of farmland, for example.

In short, there are ways to invest in the space economy directly. There are also ways to invest in it indirectly. And there's a very strong likelihood that in future years, your investments anywhere on Earth will be affected by the space economy, whether you like it or not.

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3 Ways to Invest in the Space Economy - The Motley Fool

PLC () is an AIM-listed firm that provides funding and advisory services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME).

Formed in 1997 as an investment syndicate, it now specialises in four areas equity financing, debt financing, advisory services and fund management.

What it owns

Braveheartnow holds six strategic investments in its portfolio alongside other historical investments.

These included biotechnology firm Kirkstall, UV light detection group Paraytec, propeller and rotating shaft monitoring group Gyrometric Systems, microscope imaging firm PhaseFocus and Sentinel Medical, a spin-out of Paraytec developing technology to detect cancer cells in urine.

The company also has a 51.72% stake in Pharm2Farm Limited (P2F), a plant nutrients specialist.

In a January,Braveheart said Paraytec (100%) has started the second round of user trials.

Paraytec is part of anInnovate UK funded R&D project (NEXUS) that includes Malvern Panalytical, the University of Central Lancashire, GSK, Medimmune and Fujifilm Diosynth.

Aggregates are an impurity that must be controlled and must stay within product specifications, so measurement is essential to ensure they meet the requirements of regulatory agencies.

Pharm 2 Farm(51.72%) has sent samples of silicon micronutrient and turf to potential customers.

Biotechnology company Kirkstall (64.67%) has appointed new distributors in South Korea and China.

Gyrometric Systems (19.95%) has developed shaft monitoring and measurement systems for revolutions as low as 0.25 revolutions per minute, which is useful for wind turbines.

Its ship drive monitoring systems, meanwhile,will be exhibited next year in September at SMM Hamburg, the world's largest exhibition for ship technology.

Phasefocus Holdings (21.20%) has recently been granted a new US patent for a fundamental improvement in its underlying ptychography imaging technology.

The method protected by the new patent has the potential to speed up Phasefocus's systems by a factor of 10 times.

Sentinel Medical (38.40%) is to revise the trial protocols for its prototype instrument to detect bladder cancer from urine after initial work at Sheffield University.

In the first half of the current financial year(to October) Braveheart made a loss of 122,000 ( 114,000 profit).

There was an interimdividend of 0.5p.

Progress continues across a broad front and we remain optimistic that this will eventually be reflected in enhanced returns to shareholders.

Continued here:
Braveheart"s investments focused on six-strong portfolio - Proactive Investors USA & Canada

More than 100 Arizona teachers returned to the state Capitol on Monday to rally for an education tax measure, carrying signs and wearing bright red T-shirts,the color symbolizing the #RedForEd movement.

The one-hour rally was a quiet affair compared to 2018's week-long walkout, which brought tens of thousands of teachers out of their classrooms protesting stagnant wages and low classroom funding.

The educators on Monday came to support Invest In Education, a proposed ballot measure that would raise nearly $1 billion for education by taxing the state's wealthiest residents.

The rally didn't interfere with classes schools were closed Monday for PresidentsDay. Invest In Ed organizers marked the Capitol with more than 1,800 red and white signs, each signifying an unfilledteacher position in the state.

The Arizona Supreme Court knocked the first iteration of theinitiative off the 2018 ballot just a few months before the election, spurring an outcry from the teachers who spent months collecting signatures.

This time around, supporters must collect at least 237,645 signatures from voters to qualify for November's ballot. On Monday, education leaders urged teachers to grab signs and supplies to start collecting signatures in their spare time.

Kelly Trujillo, a Kindergarten teacher in Tempe, said additional money sent to schools by state lawmakersfor teacher salaries after 2018's walkout helped, but did not boost everyone's salary. Because the state used a narrow definition of a teacher, certain support staff, for example, were not included in the calculations for the raises.

Many districts, including hers, used the money for everyone, spreading it more thinly.

Trujillo said her paycheck has not grown enough to allow her the financial freedom she wants.

"I have to live with a roommate," she said."I've been teaching for 15 years, and I would love to be able to buy a house and live by myself."

The measure would createa 3.5%tax surcharge for single individuals making more than $250,000 or married couples making more than $500,000.

The current income tax rate in Arizona for someone making$159,001 or more is 4.5%. Arizona's average income tax rate is one of the lowest in the nation.

The money would go to the following, according to Invest in Education:

Gov. Doug Ducey rolled out a plan to raise teacher salaries 20% by 2020. So far, the Legislature has sent enough money for a 15% raise the last 5% is expected in the upcoming budget.

The #20by2020 teacher raises in all will cost the state $644 million, compared withan additional nearly $500 million Invest In Ed would raise for teacher and support staff salaries.

Ducey has also increased education funding in other areas, but educators have said it's still not enough to restore all the cuts made during the Great Recession.

Reach the reporter at Lily.Altavena@ArizonaRepublic.com or follow her on Twitter @LilyAlta.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2020/02/17/arizona-teachers-return-capitol-invest-education-rally/4787589002/

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Arizona teachers return to Capitol to kick off Invest In Ed education tax effort - AZCentral

Wombat Invest, the investment app, has launched its second equity crowdfunding campaign to raise 200,000 at a pre-money valuation of 2.5million.

Users can choose from 16 themed funds including The Social Media Guru, The Foodie and The Green Machine. Investors can auto-invest a certain amount each month and/or use a round-up function linked to a bank account.

The campaign on Seedrs follows an initial crowdfund in 2018, during which Wombat raised 210,000 from more than 490 investors.

Since launching in Summer 2019, the app has acquired over 5,000 users and has joined the Natwest Accelerator Fintech Programme.

Wombat will use the funds to make product improvements, launch and market new funds and build its customer financial education programme.

CEO and founder Kane Harrison said: Millions of Britons thought about investing last year - but didnt. Many are put off because saving and investing can seem complicated, time-consuming and expensive.

Wombat solves all of these problems and we believe it will improve the financial habits of the next generation of savers and investors in the UK, Europe and beyond.

Wombat aims to launch in Europe and Australia within the next three years. It also plans to add more products and features, including premium subscriptions and Junior ISAs.

The app is free to use until the users account value reaches 1,000. After that, users are charged 1 per month plus 0.45% of the value of their investments.

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Wombat Invest return to the crowd - Finextra

Investing in stocks is a good way to grow wealth in the long run, and it's a wise strategy to employ in the course of saving for retirement. But if you're going to put money into stocks, it pays to load up on those that pay dividends.

If you're not familiar with the concept, dividends are payments issued to stockholders when a company has excess capital at its disposal. Dividends are typically paid quarterly, though they can be paid at different intervals. And sometimes, you'll get a special dividend -- a one-time payment that's generally larger than the typical dividend its issuer normally pays. With that in mind, here are three reasons to consider adding dividend stocks to your portfolio.

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Companies that issue dividends aren't required to do so; but those with a strong history of paying them tend to uphold that practice for the long haul. As a result, loading up on dividend stocks is a good way to generate ongoing income. You can use those quarterly payments to supplement your income during your working years or, just as importantly, supplement your Social Security benefits during retirement.

When market corrections or recessions strike, stock values can plummet on a whole. That's bad news if you rely on your portfolio as an income source or need to tap your portfolio immediately, because if you sell off investments in the midst of a downturn, you're liable to take losses. The great thing about dividend stocks is that they tend to keep paying even when their values drop, which means if you need access to money, you can get it without having to take a hit on investments.

When you receive a dividend payment, the choice of what to do with it is yours. You can take that cash and use it to pay bills or take a vacation -- or you can reinvest that money to grow your wealth. In fact, you can set up your investment account to automatically reinvest your dividends so you're not tempted to cash them out, thereby effectively forcing yourself to save more. And if you collect dividends regularly and reinvest them consistently, you'll effectively capitalize on a well-known strategy known as dollar-cost averaging.

When buying up dividend stocks for your portfolio, your first inclination may be to choose the ones with the highest dividends. That strategy makes sense in theory, but remember, you also want to look at factors like company strength and consistency. A company that pays a substantial dividend but has a rocky financial outlook probably isn't a great choice, because if its stock value goes down, you stand to lose money.

You should therefore take your time in deciding which dividend stocks to buy, and vet each company individually. You can also consult this roundup of high-yield dividend stocks. All of these stocks are projected to offer solid growth not just in 2020 but well into the future.

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3 Reasons to Invest in Dividend Stocks - The Motley Fool